Tell Me Lies Season 2 Review
2024 so far has seen seen many TV favorites returning with highly anticipated new seasons. These include Netflix’s third season of Bridgerton and final seasons of The Umbrella Academy and Cobra Kai, HBO’s second season of House of the Dragon and the return of True Detective with Night Country, Prime Video’s fourth season of The Boys, AMC’s second season of Interview With the Vampire, just to name a few. But one series I have been the most excited for to return this year is the Hulu drama, Tell Me Lies.
After a long (what felt like forever) two year wait, Tell Me Lies is back with its second season on September 4th with the first two episodes. In season one, the series began in 2015 as Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) reunites with her friends (and enemies) from college to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Bree (Catherine Missal) and Evan (Branden Cook). Told through flashbacks to Lucy’s freshman year at Baird College in 2007, season one introduced viewers to the highly toxic relationship she developed over the year with junior Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White).
The season one finale revealed many twists both in the flashbacks and the present time in 2015: the most shocking being Lucy and Evan hooking up at the end of the school year after Stephen brazenly dumps Lucy for his ex-girlfriend, Diana (Alicia Crowder). This wouldn’t be as shocking if it didn’t mean that Evan cheats on Bree who he just started seeing at the time – and is marrying in 2015. The 2015 setting also shows that Stephen is in a relationship with Lydia, Lucy’s (ex) best friend from high school who we meet in 2007 when she visits Lucy on campus. These are just some of the dramatic stories that unfolded over the finale and left viewers with so many questions.
Tell Me Lies Season 2 Review
Season two thankfully picks up right where season one left off, both in the flashbacks and present time, making it easier for viewers to get right back into the (many) storylines. In the flashbacks portion, we are brought back to 2008 as Lucy enters her second year of college and is trying hard to forget Stephen in the aftermath of their breakup, even though she will still have to run into him on campus and at parties.
It is no secret that Stephen is a terrible person, but season two really raises his callousness and cruel personality. At the same time, it is hard to have sympathy for Lucy; she is no where near as mean and vindictive as Stephen, but she is a problematic person who makes situations much worse with her bad decisions. And as the season two trailer hinted to, their toxic and addicting dynamic reaches a brand new level.
Season two works well because it refuses to focus solely on the key leads (Lucy and Stephen) and relegate the friends group to the sidelines. Each character is much more developed this time around as we learn more about them. And while season two introduces two new characters in the flashbacks, college student Leo (played by Thomas Doherty) and college professor Oliver (played by Tom Ellis), it doesn’t feel like too much.
Season two of Tell Me Lies truly elevates its levels of toxicity, drama, and emotions, and adds even more twists to the plot, but in a way that doesn’t make viewers feel overwhelmed with details.
The first two episodes of Tell Me Lies season two are streaming on Hulu and a new episode will drop every Wednesday through October 16.
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